African Americans have a long and rich history in Minnesota, bringing diversity to its religious and secular life. People of African descent have been in Minnesota since the Fur Trade era. George Bonga (b. 1802) was a prominent trader who founded an extended family intermarried with Leech Lake’s Ojibwe community. As a territory, Minnesota was free after the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and it was admitted to the union as a free state.
Though relatively small, Minnesota’s nineteenth-century African American community organized itself around religion. Historical landmarks, churches, and museums can teach us how Minneapolis became the city it is today and allow us to reflect on the origins of our Black community.
Minneapolis Skyline.
Early Churches and Their Significance
A number of freed blacks, believed to have come to the area as workers on steamboats, founded St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, in Minneapolis in 1863 at Sixth Ave. Established in 1863, right after the Emancipation Proclamation, St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church was the first Black church in Minnesota.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the nation’s first Black denomination, was founded in Philadelphia and led by Rev. Richard Allen. When officials at St. George’s MEC pulled blacks off their knees while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans. Hence, these members of St. George’s made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation. Although most wanted to affiliate with the Protestant Episcopal Church, Allen led a small group who resolved to remain Methodists.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Forced to worship in separate galleries in Episcopal parishes, a group of devout free black Christians reluctantly sought to begin their own congregation, but church authorities later shut them out of access to donors. In 1794 Bethel AME was dedicated with Allen as pastor. To establish Bethel’s independence from interfering white Methodists, Allen, a former Delaware slave, successfully sued in the Pennsylvania courts in 1807 and 1815 for the right of his congregation to exist as an independent institution.
The geographical spread of the AMEC prior to the Civil War was mainly restricted to the Northeast and Midwest. Major congregations were established in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, and other large Blacksmith’s Shop cities. Numerous northern communities also gained a substantial AME presence. Remarkably, the slave states of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, and, for a few years, South Carolina, became additional locations for AME congregations. The denomination reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1850’s with churches in Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco, and other places in California.
The most significant era of denominational development occurred during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Oftentimes, with the permission of Union army officials AME clergy moved into the states of the collapsing Confederacy to pull newly freed slaves into their denomination. “I Seek My Brethren,” the title of an often repeated sermon that Theophilus G. Steward preached in South Carolina, became a clarion call to evangelize fellow blacks in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and many other parts of the south. Hence, in 1880 AME membership reached 400,000 because of its rapid spread below the Mason-Dixon line.
While the AME is doctrinally Methodist, clergy, scholars, and lay persons have written important works which demonstrate the distinctive theology and praxis which have defined this Wesleyan body. Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett, in an address to the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, reminded the audience of the presence of blacks in the formation of Christianity. Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner wrote in 1895 in The Color of Solomon - What? that biblical scholars wrongly portrayed the son of David as a white man. In the post civil rights era theologians James H. Cone, Cecil W. Cone, and Jacqueline Grant who came out of the AME tradition critiqued Euro-centric Christianity and African American churches for their shortcomings in fully impacting the plight of those oppressed by racism, sexism, and economic disadvantage.
Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church has membership in twenty Episcopal Districts in thirty-nine countries on five continents.
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
In Duluth, African Americans founded St. dedicated to St. James in 1876. In 1920, following tensions raised when companies hired a number of African Americans to help break a strike by dock works, a white mob broke into the St. Louis County Jail in Duluth and publicly lynched three African American circus workers accused of raping a white woman.
Minnesota’s African American community grew visibly as a result of the Great Migration from the rural South to the urban North was felt in Minnesota, if not as dramatically as other more industrial midwestern cities in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
Pilgrim Baptist Church
The Rev. Robert Thomas Hickman was born into slavery around 1830 in Boone County, Missouri. While enslaved, he worked as a rail splitter, cutting up logs for building fences. After being taught to read by his enslaver, Hickman became a preacher, ministering to other enslaved individuals in the area. In the spring of 1863, Robert, Minta, and their children escaped their enslavers and tried to flee north out of Missouri. Ultimately they made their way to a contraband camp in St. Louis, where they found a steamboat called the Northerner. On May 6, 1863, approximately 125 people arrived at Fort Snelling via the Northerner. Among them were some of Pilgrim Baptist Church’s charter members: the Hickmans, Fielding and Adeline Combs, Henry and Charlotte Moffit, John B. and Elizabeth Trotter, and Giles Crenshaw. They settled in St.
As the freedom seekers and their families settled into their new lives in St. Paul, Robert Hickman sought a place of worship for his group. In November 1863, the Pilgrims succeeded in renting a space in a music hall from Good Samaritans in the Good Templars, a temperance society based at the Concert Hall Building on Third Street. The Pilgrims later petitioned the trustees of First Baptist Church of St. Between 1864 and 1866, Rev. Hickman and his followers had been part of First Baptist Church of St. Paul and worshiped under Hickman’s direction, with sponsorship from First Baptist Church. On Nov. 15, 1866, Pilgrim Baptist was formally organized and celebrated with a baptismal service on the shores of the Mississippi River. The church was then incorporated in 1870. Rev. Hickman, meanwhile, was licensed to preach, ordained, and became the congregation’s official minister in 1878.
First Baptist Church of St. Anthony gave a portion of their building, which was being razed, to Pilgrim’s congregation to be used in the construction of the new church. With this support, Pilgrim’s first dedicated structure was built in 1872 of stone and wood on the Sibley Street site.
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
In 1886 the church moved from the Sibley Street location to Cedar and 13th Streets. After the move, Hickman retired and was succeeded by the Rev. Bird J.
Civil rights worker Nellie Francis and her husband, diplomat William T. Francis, were active members of Pilgrim Baptist throughout the 1890s and 1910s. Both were singers and performed in the church’s choir. In 1909, Nellie Francis successfully persuaded Andrew Carnegie to donate an Estey organ to the church via his charitable foundation in New York.
The congregation remained active throughout the 1910s, participating in local milestones like the founding of the St. The congregation grew in the 1910s, creating an urgent need for a larger building, and a new church was built in 1928 at the corner of Central and Grotto Avenues in St. Paul (732 W. Central Ave.). The move brought the congregation into the heart of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.
In the same year, Pilgrim Baptist participated in the founding of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. The church’s members in this period included Frank Boyd, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and S. Edward Hall.
In the 1960s, when construction of Interstate 94 displaced thousands of Rondo residents, Pilgrim Baptist members took action to keep their community together. They requested that the City of St. Paul build a pedestrian bridge over the interstate at Grotto Street North, so members could continue to walk to church. City officials complied, creating one of the new freeway’s few pedestrian crossing points. Pilgrim Baptist’s the Rev. Floyd Massey, working with the Rondo-St.
Pilgrim Baptist Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding in June 2013. The congregation held a banquet, published a commemorative book, and hosted a worship service with guest speaker the Rev.
Associated with the Shingle Creek African American Community, this church's early congregation consisted of former slaves and the children of former slaves who moved away from the South to seek better lives.
The Origins of the Black Church in America
The Church as a Pillar of the Community
FOX 9’s Maury Glover examined the role black churches played in the development of the city of lakes. Speakers explained how congregations like St. James AME, which became the first Black church in Minnesota in 1860, and Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church, which became the first Black Baptist church in Minneapolis in the 1880s, not only addressed the spiritual needs of their members but their social and political needs as well.
"The Black church would help people find employment, help them find housing. If someone died, they would collect money so they could be buried. The long-term goal of changing laws and the removal of oppressive practices was part of the Black church's mission," Judge Lajune Lange said.
There's no greater example of this than Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. In the 1960s, when it was known as Greater Sabathani Baptist Church, its members bought the vacant junior high building across the street and turned it into the Sabathani Community Center, which helped keep the city's most populous Black neighborhood from disintegrating after it was torn apart by the construction of I-35W through south Minneapolis.
"The Black church is still the leading institution in our community. Without the Black church, we have nothing. The Black church still has a voice," said Dr. Billy G Russel with Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
Organizers hope peering into the past will help create a permanent place for Black churches in the city's history. "That we as African Americans are part of the city of Minneapolis…that we need to daylight our history amongst ourselves…so we can research, celebrate, have historic markers and have a presence in Wikipedia and articles about the city that we are there," Judge Lajune Lange said.
Black church service.
Challenges and Resilience
This historic home in the Field neighborhood of Minneapolis was purchased by an African-American couple, Arthur and Edith Lee in 1931. White neighbors protested and rioted against the Lee's living here, considering the area to be a "white-only neighborhood." The Lee's were determined to stay and enlisted the help of prominent organizations and individuals including Minneapolis lawyer Lena Olive Smith.
It is known for its role in reporting on the challenges African-Americans faced both in the Minneapolis community and around the nation. The headquarters for this family owned African-American newspaper is the site of the oldest Black business in the state of Minnesota. The Spokesman Recorder is a combination of two newspapers, Minneapolis Spokesman and Saint Paul Recorder, created by publisher Cecil Newman in 1934.
Morrill Hall is an administration building at the University of Minnesota. In 1969 a group of students staged a 24 hour protest against the school's administration. The demonstration was made to shine a light on the hostile campus environment towards black students and the absence of an African American studies department.
Contemporary Relevance
Does the date April 4 have any significance for you? Well, 57 years ago, it marked the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a renowned faith leader, activist, and Black man. We often hear the echoes of his prophetic voice ringing through the media during Black History Month, inviting us to remember our baptismal vows as United Methodists to renounce evil, repent of our sins, and accept the freedom God gives us to resist injustice and oppression.
On April 4, 2018, my life was forever changed. As a graduate student, I received a diversity award at Mississippi State University for my commitment to justice work on campus, in the local community, and in The United Methodist Church. But I did not attend the awards ceremony. Instead, I decided to take a three-hour trek to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination at the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located at the Lorraine Motel, where he was killed. The historical event drew 15,000 people from every nation and tribe. I cried that day, grown Black woman tears, because every history book, documentary, novel, lecture, Negro Spiritual could not have prepared me for the movement of the spirit, the intentionality to center Black voices and experiences in America, and the prolific words of Civil Rights activist James Lawson.
I had heard about Rev. Lawson throughout my life, but it never dawned on me that he was a United Methodist pastor, which is actually why I drove to Memphis. Worship at Camphor Memorial UMC in St. Black Methodists such as Rev. Lawson, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Rev. Dr. Pamela R. Lightsey, Bishop Tracy S. Malone, and countless others have played a vital role in shaping our beloved denomination, even amid discrimination.
The Central Jurisdiction, which segregated Black churches and clergy from their white counterparts, existed from 1939 to 1968, causing significant harm but also fostering strong Black Methodist leadership and community. Out of this resistance, the Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) was formed in 1968, advocating for the full inclusion of Black people in the life of the church. BMCR was foundational in the creation of the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) in 1968, which still today continues to be a vital force in our denomination’s work toward racial justice and reconciliation. One of the outcomes of these organizations’ ongoing work was the formation of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SBC 21) in 2000.
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of worshiping at Camphor Memorial UMC in St. Paul, the last remaining historically Black United Methodist Church in Minnesota, which was founded in 1919. The service included a powerful intergenerational sketch that imagined what a day would be like if we couldn’t use inventions created by Black innovators. No thermostat, no showers, no clothes dryers, no TV remotes-so much of what we take for granted exists because of Black ingenuity. As we sang, hummed, and clapped to “This Little Light of Mine” taken from the African American Hymnal, I thanked God for being Black and for Historian Carter G. Woodson for establishing Black History Month in 1976 so that the world can experience the richness, resilience, and contributions of Black people throughout history.
So I ask you: How will you use your life and witness to be a light for Black people in the world, in your church, in your work, in your community, in your voting, in your family, and at the dinner table? As we come to the end of February, I hope that you see it as just the beginning of learning, naming, and celebrating the unique voices and contributions of Black folx. Consider checking out two great resources: 29 tangible ways you can honor Black Folx and Worship resources for Black History Month. Black history is all of our history. Let’s honor it not just this month but every month, as we continue to follow the call of Christ to love, learn, and labor for justice.
All events are free and open to the public. The large brick building atop the hill at 810 Elwood Avenue, N. was erected as a synagogue in 1926 by the immigrant Tifereth B’nai Jacob congregation. The small congregation repaired the damage and hired the Minneapolis decorating firm of (Gunnar) Dahlstrom and (Martin) Weinberger, noted for their work on theater interiors, to redecorate the sanctuary. Just who did the actual painting and artwork is unknown, but the result, which remains largely extant today, was a remarkable example of Central European synagogue painting, with trompe l’oeil details on the walls and a rare set of zodiac medallions on the face of the balcony. Yet this important artwork is far from the whole story this landmark building tells.
The social histories of the two congregations that owned the church over time illustrate the intertwining of Jews and Blacks in North Minneapolis in the 20th century. Both groups, residing in the neighborhood since the early 20th century, marginalized by the dominant white society, redlined to the North Minneapolis neighborhood, and disproportionately affected by urban renewal and highway projects, shared a number of parallel experiences that tell a crucial story about the history of Minneapolis. The Tifereth B’nai Jacob synagogue, home of Bessarabian Jews from the southern region of Romania who were looked down upon by their more northerly co-religionists, used the building to make a strong statement of their presence and wherewithal. Under their care, the building hosted politically progressive rallies and meetings that set them even further apart from much of the broader Minneapolis Jewish community.
Similarly, the Holiness/Pentecostal identity of the new owners in the late 1950s set them apart for their Christian co-religionists suspicious of their worship practices, yet their New Year’s Eve gospel concerts brought in members from several neighboring Black churches. Now in its 65th year as the FCOGIC’s church home, the building stands as a testament to the congregation’s determination, strength, and spiritual commitment. It also is a reminder of the presence of the nationally prominent COGIC denomination, whose early representatives left their homes in Oklahoma and arrived in Minneapolis in 1923, exactly 100 years ago. The building and its interior artwork thus form a bridge between the congregations and the communities they represent, two communities that were both marginalized in the city but that helped build a vibrant neighborhood despite many challenges.
Here's a table summarizing key churches and their founding dates:
| Church Name | Founding Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| St. James AME Church | 1863 | First Black church in Minnesota |
| Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church | 1880s | First Black Baptist church in Minneapolis |
| Pilgrim Baptist Church | 1866 | Established to serve the Black community of St. Paul |
| Camphor Memorial UMC | 1919 | Last remaining historically Black United Methodist Church in Minnesota |
